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U of L students to participate in Semester at Sea, including first recipients of Brawn Family Foundation scholarships

The first recipients of the Semester at Sea scholarships from the Brawn Family Foundation will soon set sail on the adventure of a lifetime.

Amanda Sakundiak admits to being bitten by the travel bug. Here she is at the Gunung Kawi Temple in Bali, Indonesia.

Amanda Sakundiak and Mackenzie Salmon, scholarship recipients, and Prachi Sanghavi, who’s participating in the Semester at Sea program at her own expense, set sail from Hamburg, Germany on Sept. 9 for a semester of learning in the shipboard classrooms and through field experiences and service projects in countries around the world.

During the semester, they’ll sail around the world with stops in 11 countries, including Germany, Spain, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Japan and the United States, before disembarking in San Diego, California on Dec. 23.

“I’m very thankful,” says Sakundiak, a second-year student majoring in marketing in the Dhillon School of Business. “There’s no way I could do this without the Brawn Family Foundation scholarship. I’m very thankful to them for donating.”

Kelley Buckley (BASc (BA) ’84), director of the foundation and one of Dr. Robert Brawn’s (LLD ’16) daughters, participated in Semester at Sea, as did her sister, her own children and her sister’s children. They wanted to share the opportunity to participate in the powerful program with other U of L students through the Brawn Family Foundation.

“I can’t express in words how incredibly grateful I am for the Brawn Family Foundation,” says Salmon, a kinesiology student entering her fourth year. “I am looking forward to seeing the world and exploring the diversity within it. I want to return to the U of L with a first-hand and greater appreciation for global awareness. I look forward to applying my new discoveries to my future education and career.”

Mackenzie Salmon has been on plenty of adventures in South America, including going volcano boarding in Nicaragua.

“In addition to learning to be a conscientious traveller, I hope to find experiences that push me outside my comfort zone,” says Sanghavi, a third-year neuroscience student. “I also want to understand new ways of seeing the world. My anthropology course taught me so much about different cultures’ outlooks on the world and I can’t wait to see them during my travels.”

The U of L students will join about 500 other students from around the world, although primarily from North America, on the MV World Odyssey, a 10-deck ship with nine classrooms.

“I still can’t believe it,” says Sakundiak.

Prachi Sanghavi is a keen traveller who likes to experience new cultures and adventures.